Despite being fiercely pro-Real Madrid, leading sports journal Marca ran a headline reading "The best in history" on its website, above photographs of Messi at each of his four Ballon d'Or prizegivings.

It hailed Del Bosque's award as "A prize for Spanish football."

All three players on the shortlist for the world's best footballer award play in the Spanish league – Messi, his Barca teammate Andres Iniesta and rival striker Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

In fact all of the top six names in the final ranking that Messi topped were from La Liga teams.

In the FIFPro selection for the best 11-man line-up, meanwhile, six were Spaniards and all but two were from the Spanish league.

That selection included Ronaldo and three other Real players – Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso – plus Iniesta, Messi and two other Barcelona players, Gerard Pique and Xavi Hernandez.

The president of Barcelona, Sandro Rosell, said he was "very proud of our players and to be with Barcelona", the club said on its Twitter feed.

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The president of the Spanish Royal Football Federation, Angel Villar, said Del Bosque's award was "a new prize for Spanish football that is going through some marvellous years."